Summer of 2026 feels so unpredictable and strange to me. I don't know if it's the advancements in AI, the post-covid generation growing up, or just a general malaise due to monetary inflation, but things just seem more boring and stagnant than they have in a very long time, and I don't really understand it. At any point in the past decade and a half, I felt like I was able to predict the future in general terms. I'm kind of retarded, so none of this led to financial gain or good investments, but you could see where things would go. For example, in the early 2010s, an astute observer could see that race and gender based political movements would become more popular. There was so much academic discourse on this already, and people craved authenticity and a reprieve from corporate slop. What's more authentic than immutable characteristics of race and gender? Then, once all of that became super trendy by 2015, it wasn't hard to predict there'd be a backlash, and so we got Trump and the alt-right. Outside of politics, if you were aware of who pewdiepie was in the early 2010s, it was easy to foresee the rise of streamer culture and that internet livestreams would grow. When covid happened in 2020, it was easy to see that the reaction and blowback against it would be fierce. Especially in hindsight, it's not surprising that covid pandemic directly led to the decline of "woke" cultural forms. But with Russia's invasion of Ukraine, Trump's overall 2nd term, and the growth of AI, it's hard for me to make any predictions. I can say that AI usage will increase, sure, but otherwise, I don't know. Before Russia invaded Ukraine, I thought any conflict between The West + Russia would lead to WW3. Now that seems unlikely, the idea of a nuclear war barely seems possibleI just get the sense that everything is slowing down. I wonder if things are about to explode, and yet I feel no pressure. People are plodding along. Things aren't getting worse, but theyre not improving
>>539096963Nukes are fake stupid
my anxiety is through the roof. I'm annoyed because I just got my car fixed and it didn't help at all
>>539096963retard, 2012 was the conversion point, after that nothing can be predicted anymore
Israel is another hot button issue. And yet, when I was in college 15 years ago everyone hated Israel then too. We weren't protesting about it, but if the state of Israel came up in conversation, basically no one had anything good to say about them, even if there was belief they deserved to exist. Basically, there's just a lot of stuff happening right now, but I can't see how any of it ends, and it makes me wonder if we are in the final stages of the endgame. Here's what I meanRussia/Ukraine war: they've been fighting for over 4 years now. It's basically a stalemate. Maybe Ukraine is making some gains finally. But it's not enough for either side to decisively win. And no matter who "wins" it'll be pyrrhic victory. Is it just going to fizzle out and then those countries carry on with 100s of thousands fewer men each?The Israel/Iran War situation. There has been no decisive victory. Very similar to Ukraine/Russia just with far fewer casualties on either side. Iran is incapable of achieving any kind of decisive victory. And yet the US and Israel are unwilling to do so, and thus could also be said to be incapable. That's to say nothing of the Iranian people who actually wanted to overthrow the regime. At the beginning of the year it just felt like shit was about to happen, that whether for good or ill there would be massive changes, and yet there are none. AI is more advanced than ever before, but what's the result? When I go to my parents and watch regular TV, there are a bunch of shitty AI commercials now. But there were shitty non-AI commercials before. It's like nothing changed at all. There is more open and flagrant government corruption than ever before, but no one seems to care. It's just a very odd feeling. I get the sense that something completely unexpected will happen soon, along the lines of either aliens or some kind of natural disaster or catastrophe. Despite the raging wars and rapid technological changes...things just seem way too calm right now.
>>539097119The entire point of the Ukraine war is the war itself. It’s bankrupting the west while china rises.The point of the Iran war is to cause $13/gallon gasoline by 2030.
>>539097093>my anxiety is through the roof. I'm annoyed because I just got my car fixed and it didn't help at allWhy are you anxious? Is it due to the fires up there? I don't doubt that Canada is a more nerve-wracking place to live. I used to be pretty anxious here, I just kind of stopped caring about everything desu>>539097099>retard, 2012 was the conversion point, after that nothing can be predicted anymorechecked but I disagree. The Russian invasion of Ukraine was somewhat predictable. I didn't predict it would happen, but many others did. Russia took Crimea easily in 2014. In 2015 they started intervening militarily in Syria on behalf of Assad, to great success. There were continuing conflicts between the Ukrainian government and separatists in Eastern Ukraine, who were generally aided and supported by Russia. It doesn't take a genius to think that a Russia, emboldened by military success in Syria, would take a more active role against Ukraine. Nor was it unreasonable to predict that inflation would get worse after covid-19 when every government printed money as much as possible and gave stimulus checks to their citizens. These are two small examples. But right now, what happens? What does 2030 look like? It's barely 3 years away. What about 2040?Both Russia's actions in Ukraine and the US/Israel's actions against Iran and in the middle east make large scale military movements seem less realistic. If WWIII ever did happen it would just be incredibly gay. The entire political discourse is strange to me too. It almost feels like they aren't running any psyops. Maybe it's because CERN is finally shut down, maybe that's why I feel calm. But all I can think is that throughout the late 2010s and even into the early 2020s, on here, and many forums, you have conspiracy theorists or self-proclaimed insiders making posts and claiming to understand "what's really going on". You don't see that anymore. No one is even pretending to understand what's happening
>>539097207>The entire point of the Ukraine war is the war itself. It’s bankrupting the west while china rises.China doesn't seem to be rising though. They are also stagnant and facing economic problems as well as demographic problems. Their rate of growth has dramatically slowed in recent years. The only thing China has going for it right now is their Electric Car industry, but even that is starting to fizzle and companies are starting to fall. Even with their cheaper prices, they have overproduction and not enough people buying the cars. >The point of the Iran war is to cause $13/gallon gasoline by 2030.They keep finding more oil, and over 6 months later gas is barely $1 per gallon more than it was when the war started. Barely any oil is getting out of Iran or through the gulf and prices aren't even that bad. Something else is going on. To me it feels like a last ditch attempt at something before that attempt is impossible
>>539097119>Israel is another hot button issue. And yet, when I was in college 15 years ago everyone hated Israel then too. We weren't protesting about it, but if the state of Israel came up in conversation, basically no one had anything good to say about them, even if there was belief they deserved to exist. Basically, there's just a lot of stuff happening right now, but I can't see how any of it endsTo expand on this, what I find strange is that the anti-Israel sentiment has been allowed to grow so much. Everyone hates Israel now. The absolute most average boring normies out there are saying shit that makes them sound like Hitler. What is the end goal of this? How does this benefit either political party or anyone in power? I really tend to think that all of this is happening now because there's about to be some kind of unexpected takeover of the US government by a rogue faction with UFO tech or that AI will advance to the point of completely transforming society within a year or something crazy like that. Everything just seems so calm. The world cup happened. America's 250th anniversary happened with not only little fanfare, but despite the supposed hatred for the US even amongst leftists...no terrorist attacks, minimal violence. Crime is actually down nationwide compared to last year. Everything just feels like a calm before the storm to me
>>539096963>things just seem more boring and stagnant than they have in a very long timeYou're not crazy, i have noticed it too. It's like we're all waiting for something.
>>539098165thank you, it's just been such a remarkably calm summer so far. Things seemed exciting at the beginning of the year with protests in Iran and the US announcing military action in February. I really thought things would've been different by now. The only potentially big prediction I could make is that the midterm elections will happen and Democrats will likely pick up some gains. But I don't think it will be a lot and I don't think it will be very consequential. There are only so many swing voters out there.
mad world
Would you be man enough to save your neighbor from her horrible fate?
>>539097424You’re clearly some kind of moron.
>>539096963were taking on neoliberalism and reinstating Christianity
which one?https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VSewYsf3uDs
>>539096963No you are just a retard playing captain hindsight with suppositions. It’s not unpredictable, but shit is coming because we live in a performative hyper reality desperate to avoid the consequences of ignoring actual reality.
>>539096963
